Category Archives: Slowmo Samples

Not too long ago the Vision Research Phantom v2640 was amazing us with 4MP capture at 6,600fps with incredible quality. Now iX Cameras with offices in the UK, USA and Shanghai China is turning heads with an extreme spec sheet of 3 Megapixels 2048×1536 at 8,512fps and a Full HD 1080p frame rate of 12,742fps which is just 242fps higher than the Phantom v2640 at 12,500fps.

The relative camera memory speed and pixel capture rate is very similar between these two behemoths but you have to give the crown to the i-SPEED 726 for the 3 megapixel 8,512fps which brings in a whole new level of temporal detail at above Full HD resolution. Of course, these cameras do not share their pricing unless you request a quote which you cannot share publicly. However, expect to pay high 5 figures for the best the technology has to offer.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

OnePlus has released the official OnePlus 6T slow motion 480fps promotional video with high production values. It is all shot with the phone and while you can see the jaggies and edge artifacts from resolution loss, it offers pretty compelling color and dynamic range for a phone. The 3.75 second rec time at 480fps turns out 1800frames or 30-sec playback at 30fps.

The OnePlus6 & 6T which offer essentially the same camera and high fps component are in the running for our slow-motion phone of the year along with the close competition from the Samsung Note 9 and Galaxy S9. However, the usefulness of the OnePlus 6 devices with much more recording allowance is a very big differentiator that in reality should impact your purchase decision much more than 960fps.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 had a few leaks in the past weeks concerning the slow motion mode and the company even released a water balloon sample. We decided to wait for the real reviews and samples before making an opinion on this phone which is destined for the Chinese market first. The phone is supposed to shoot 960fps in 1080p mode which is exciting as an initial spec matching the Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ3 phones in resolution and frame rate but we really have no slow motion duration spec yet.

After looking at the samples we have seen a clear indication of software interpolation to fill in video frames between high frame rate recorded video which looks to be 240p at 1080p and then conformed in software to 960fps on the fly using the phone’s hardware. The results are very good and beat anything we have seen before on phone frame rate interpolation which is a good thing, however, it looks like the phone is faking its way into slow motion 960fps.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

It seems that phones have been coming out every couple of days this year and OnePlus with a still nearly brand new and fully relevant flagship on the OnePlus 6 is now releasing the updated OnePlus 6T which has a slightly larger screen, smaller notch, a few photo features and an in-glass fingerprint reader which may be reason enough to get one as it may cause friend envy.

The video modes remain as good as the OnePlus 6 which uses the same exact camera configuration in hardware but with some software tweaks to photo modes for better people, food and text capture. The Slow motion component is kept the same as well with 1080p 240fps and 720p at 480fps with a one minute or 60 seconds playback at regular 30p speed from the 480p initial capture. That translates to 1800 frames captured or 3.75 sec at full speed.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

After a few weeks of iPhone XS ownership, we can already gage the quality of the video coming out of the device in 1080p slow motion mode. We have a dozen samples for you too look at and make a decision. It is, however, a bittersweet realization that last year’s iPhone X is pretty much just as good as the XS in slow motion with just a tiny difference in per-pixel quality and dynamic range.

If you own an iPhone 8, X or Samsung Galaxy S8 or S9, for example, the slow motion feature on the iPhone XS should not be a factor in your decision to upgrade. The new XS has the best 4k video the iPhone has ever produced and the image stabilization is also much improved. The XS camera shoots pretty amazing still images and regular frame rate video but it is competitive with the best out there. The phone still is the best 240p 1080 mobile device today, see why below.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←

The newly announced Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL phones do impressive things with machine learning when it comes to their camera app. The ability to do resolution comparable 2X zoom to an optical lens by using exposure merging is genius. Their portrait mode is also the best ever made on a phone with incredible separation of background and foreground depth of field based on learning algorithms that can tackle hair transitions and other objects all with only a single lens.

When it comes to video however it is not as good as either the Samsung’s or Apple’s latest flagship phones. The pixel tops at 4k 30p and the slow motion while doing 240fps which matches the iPhone XS it is only 720p instead of 1080p. Google seems to have beefed up the phone for still images and selfies and left the video features on a secondary plane. The slow motion mode is essentially identical to last year’s Pixel 2 and 2 XL at 120fps 1080p and 240fps 720p.→ Continue Reading Full Post ←